Inspiring Great Women in Tech on International Women’s Day

By Maja Mikek, CFO and Co-founder, Celtra

International Women's Day is celebrated globally each year on March 8 to acknowledge the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

At Celtra, we happily join in this celebration and, in fact, look to celebrate the many accomplishments and limitless potential of women not just one day each year, but every day.

As CFO, I believe it’s my duty to inspire the women I work with to grapple with their fears and to remove any roadblocks to success.  This is my passion and it gives me great satisfaction to help women advance at work while allowing them to take good care of themselves, including their physical and mental health, and their families.

In working with many great women at Celtra, I have found that women empathize well and tend to put themselves into the shoes of others, gaining great insights when it comes to how they lead and inspire others. This is the reason I ensure that the women in our company have a voice and a seat at the table. By supporting, enabling, hearing, and understanding women’s needs, you give them confidence to rise to their potential. You get twice as many views, twice as many opinions and more power to execute and get things done.

Companies like ours succeed on the productivity and ingenuity of our employees. If women don’t feel seen and heard, how are we promoting visibility and collaboration? If they feel stuck or excluded, how can the company as a whole stay nimble, agile, and innovative? How can we perform to our fullest potential if members of the team are being held back by outdated, institutionalized limitations? 

On International Women’s Day, my advice to other companies is to be diligent in identifying, hiring, and mentoring passionate women who operate and get stuff done from a deep-seated value system—implement practices and a system of recognition to make sure you are always looking for and supporting other women leaders or leaders-in-the-wings.

Companies that focus on empowering women will be strengthened, invigorated, and emboldened.